Marian Coredemption PDF
Marian Coredemption PDF
Marian Coredemption PDF
5-23-2014
Recommended Citation
Calkins, Arthur Burton (2014) "Marian Coredemption as an Impetus to Marian Devotion," Marian Studies: Vol. 65, Article 10, Pages
233-276.
Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian
Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact frice1@udayton.edu, mschlangen1@udayton.edu.
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
I. Introduction
Marialis Cultus, the Apostolic Exhortation of the
Venerable Pope Paul VI, was addressed to the Catholic
Church at a crucial moment in the midst of postconciliar
confusion. The optimism of Gaudium et Spes and the other
conciliar documents was met head on by the turbulence of
the sixties and seventies. Within ten years of the closing of
the Second Vatican Council on the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception in 1965, enormous societal changes were taking
place which are perhaps not even now fully assessed by the
social sciences. In the course of that period, despite the fresh
synthesis of Marian doctrine provided by chapter eight of
Lumen Gentium, Marian devotion, which had perhaps
reached its zenith in the era of the Venerable Pope Pius XII
(1939-1958), seemed to have reached its nadir. The problem
facing Paul VI in that debilitating milieu was how to revive
Marian devotion and how to do so from the perspective of
the conciliar teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary.
233
Published by eCommons, 2014 1
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
234
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 2
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
235
Published by eCommons, 2014 3
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
236
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 4
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
237
Published by eCommons, 2014 5
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
She [Mary] it was who, immune from all sin, personal or inherited,
and ever most closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha
to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal
rights and motherly love, like a new Eve, for all the children of
Adam contaminated through this unhappy fall. 12
238
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 6
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
From this we conclude that just as Christ, the new Adam, is our
King not only because He is the Son of God, but also because He is
our Redeemer, so also in a somewhat similar manner the Blessed
Virgin is Queen not only as Mother of God, but also because she
was associated as the second Eve with the new Adam. …
Jesus Christ alone, God and Man, is King in the strict, full and
absolute sense; but Mary shares in His royal dignity in a secondary
way, dependent on the sovereignty of her Son. She is Mother of the
Christ God and is His associate in the work of redemption, in His
conflict with the enemy, and in His complete victory. 13
239
Published by eCommons, 2014 7
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
Among her many other titles we find her hailed as “Our Lady,” our
“Mediatrix” (St. Bernard, Serm. II in Adv. Domini, n.5), the
“Reparatrix of the Whole World” (St. Tharasius, Or. in Præsent.
Deip.), “the Dispenser of all Heavenly Gifts.” 14
240
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 8
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
241
Published by eCommons, 2014 9
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
He, the Son of God, gave His heavenly Mother a share in His glory,
His majesty, His kingship; because, associated as Mother and
Minister to the King of martyrs in the ineffable work of man’s
Redemption, she is likewise associated with Him forever, with
Fons igitur Christum est, “et de plenitudine eius nos omnes accepimus” [Io
1:16]; “ex quo totum corpus compactum et connexum per omnem iuncturam
subministrationis … augmentum corporis facit in ædificationem sui in caritate”
[Eph 4:16]. Maria vero … “aquæductus” est aut eitiam collum, per quod
corpus cum capite iungitur …
242
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 10
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
17 AAS 38 (1946): 266 [OL, 413–414]. Ele o Filho Deus, reflecte sobre a
celeste Mãe a glória, a majestade, o império da sua realeza;—porque associada,
como Mãe e Ministra, ao Rei dos mártires na obra inefável da humana Redenção,
lhe é para sempre associada, com poder quasi imenso, na distribuição das graças
que da Redenção derivam.
243
Published by eCommons, 2014 11
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
is ever being tested in its faith and hope by suffering and persecution
(cf. Lk. 2:21-35). 18
244
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 12
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
Incarnate Word made to the Father when He entered the world (cf.
Heb. 15:5-7). The Church has seen the universal nature of salvation
proclaimed, for Simeon, greeting in the Child the light to enlighten
the peoples and the glory of the people Israel (cf. Lk. 2:32),
recognized in Him the Messiah, the Savior of all. The Church has
understood the prophetic reference to the Passion of Christ: the fact
that Simeon’s words, which linked in one prophecy the Son as “the
sign of contradiction” (Lk. 2:34) and the Mother, whose soul would
be pierced by a sword (cf. Lk. 2:35), came true on Calvary. A
mystery of salvation, therefore, that in its various aspects orients the
episode of the Presentation in the Temple to the salvific event of the
cross. But the Church herself, in particular from the Middle Ages
onwards, has detected in the heart of the Virgin taking her Son to
Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (cf. Lk. 2:22) a desire to make
an offering, a desire that exceeds the ordinary meaning of the rite. A
witness to this intuition is found in the loving prayer of Saint
Bernard: “Offer your Son, holy Virgin, and present to the Lord the
blessed fruit of your womb. Offer for the reconciliation of us all the
holy Victim which is pleasing to God.”
This union of the Mother and the Son in the work of redemption
reaches its climax on Calvary, where Christ “offered himself as the
perfect sacrifice to God” (Heb. 9:14) and where Mary stood by the
cross (cf. Jn. 19:25), “suffering grievously with her only-begotten
Son. There she united herself with a maternal heart to His sacrifice,
and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which she
245
Published by eCommons, 2014 13
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
herself had brought forth” and also was offering to the eternal
Father. 19
19 AAS 66 (1974): 131–132. Maria demum est Virgo offerens. Quod quidem
in praesentatione Iesu in templo apparet (cf Lc 2, 22–35). In quo eventu
Ecclesia, a Spiritu Sancto ducta, praeter perfectionem et absolutionem legum
de oblatione primogeniti (cf Ex 13, 11–16) atque matris purificatione (cf Lv 12,
6–8), aliquod mysterium salutis deprehendit, ad historiam ipsius salutis
spectans: animadvertit nempe ibi Ecclesia illam primariam oblationem
continuari, quam Verbum, caro factum et mundum ingrediens, Deo adhibuit (cf
Heb 10, 5–7); et omnium hominum denuntiari salutem, cum Simeon, Puerum
Iesum appellans lumen ad revelationem gentium et gloriam Israel (cf Lc 2, 32),
Messiam illum agnoscat eundemque Salvatorem omnium; intellexit denique ad
Christi Passionem prophetice referri, cum Simeonis verba, uno eodemque
oraculo Filium, signum contradictionis (Lc 2, 34), et Matrem, cuius gladius
animam pertransiret (cf ibid. 2, 35), inter se nectentia, in Calvariae monte ad
exitum adducta sint. Quam ob rem, hoc salutis mysterium, variis rationibus
ipsius consideratis, id habet proprium, ut per Christi praesentationem in
templo ad eventum Crucis salvificum provocet. Ceterum Ecclesia ipsa, maxime
a medii devi saeculis, in Virgine, Filium Ierusalem afferente, ut sisteret Domino
(cf Lc 2, 22), voluntatem offerendi, seu ut aiunt, oblativam, intuita est, quae
suetum ritus intellectum excederet. Cuius sane rei testimonio est illa S.
Bernardi dulcis compellatio: Offer Filium, Virgo Sacrata, et benedictum
fructum ventris tui Domino repraesenta. Offer ad nostram omnium
reconciliationem hostiam sanctam, Deo placentem.
Haec autem Matris et Filii coniunctio in opere Redemptionis (summe
enituit in Calvariae monte, in quo Christus semetipsum obtulit immaculatum
Deo (Heb 9, 14), atque Maria, prope Crucem stans (cf Io 19, 25), vehementer
cum Unigenito suo condoluit et sacrificio Eius se materno animo sociavit,
victimae de se genitae immolationi amanter consentiens, quam et ipsa aeterno
Patri obtulit.
246
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 14
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
Rightly therefore the holy Fathers see her [Mary] as used by God
not merely in a passive way, but as freely cooperating in the work
of human salvation through faith and obedience. For, as St. Irenaeus
says, she, “being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself
247
Published by eCommons, 2014 15
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the early Fathers
gladly assert in their preaching, “The knot of Eve’s disobedience
was untied by Mary’s obedience; what the virgin Eve bound through
her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith.” Comparing
Mary with Eve, they call her “the Mother of the living,” and still
more often they say: “death through Eve, life through Mary.” 21
21 LG, 56. Merito igitur SS. Patres Mariam non mere passive a Deo
adhibitam, sed libera fide et oboedientia humanae saluti cooperantem censent.
Ipsa enim, ut ait S. Irenaeus, “oboediens et sibi et universo generi humano
causa facta est salutis.” Unde non pauci Patres antiqui in prædicatione sua
cum eo libenter asserunt: “Hevæ inoboedientiæ nodum solutionem accepisse
per oboedientiam Mariæ; quod alligavit virgo Heva per incredulitatem, hoc
virginem Mariam solvisse per fidem”; et comparatione cum Heva instituta,
Mariam “matrem viventium” appellant, sæpiusque affirmant: “mors per
Hevam vita per Mariam.”
22 AAS 66 (1974): 134. Socia Redemptoris.
23 AAS 66 (1974): 166. Maria, nova Mulier, proxima Christo adstat, novo
Homini, in cuius mysterio tantummodo hominis mysterium clarescit. The
reference here is to Gaudium et Spes, 22.
248
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 16
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
249
Published by eCommons, 2014 17
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
250
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 18
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
251
Published by eCommons, 2014 19
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
252
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 20
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
253
Published by eCommons, 2014 21
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
254
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 22
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
255
Published by eCommons, 2014 23
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
At the cross the Blessed Virgin appears as the new Eve, so that, as a
woman shared in bringing death, so a woman would share in
restoring life. 34
34Col, #11. Ibi enim beata Virgo nova fulget Eva, ut, sicut mulier contulit ad
mortem, ita mulier conferret ad vitam.
35 Col, #12. Tu enim, ad humanam sobolem sapienti consilio reformandam
novam Evam iuxta crucem novi Adami astare voluisti: ut quæ, divino
fecundante Spiritu, facta erat mater, novo tuæ pietatis dono fieret socia
passionis.
256
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 24
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
She is the humble Virgin, whose faith opened the gate of eternal life,
closed by the disbelief of Eve. 36
For in your wise and provident plan you joined the Blessed Virgin
so closely to your Son in the work of redemption that she was with
him as a loving mother in his infancy, stood by his Cross as the
faithful companion in his Passion … 37
Beauty was hers in the Passion of her Son: marked by his Blood, in
her meekness she shared the suffering of the Lamb of God, her Son,
36 Col, #46. Hæc est Virgo humilis, quæ æternæ vitæ ianuam, quam Eva
incredula clauserat, nobis reseravit fidelis.
37 Col, #43. Qui mirabili providentique consilio, beatam Virginem in opere
salutis humanæ Filio tuo tam arcta societate iunxisti, ut in humilitate cunarum
ei amantissima mater adesset et iuxta crucem staret fidelis social passionis …
257
Published by eCommons, 2014 25
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
silent before his executioners, and won for herself a new title of
motherhood. 38
38 Col, #36. Pulchra in Filii passione, eius purpurata cruore, mitis agna
mitissimo Agno compatiens, novo matris ornata munere.
39Domenico Casagrande, ed., Enchiridion Marianum Biblicum Patristicum
(Rome: “Cor Unum,” 1974), #23.
40 Cf. Georges Gharib, Ermanno M. Toniolo, Luigi Gambero, and Gerardo
Di Nola, eds., Testi Mariani del Primo Millennio, Vol. 1 (Rome: Città Nuova
Editrice, 1988), 150–151. According to Brant Pitre, in his book Jesus and the
Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper (NY:
Doubleday, 2011), 53, “the usual method of sacrifice was to slit the animal’s
throat and drain the blood into a sacred vessel of some sort.”
41 Cf. Marialis Cultus, 20.
258
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 26
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
42 On Mary’s role in presenting Jesus in the temple, cf. André Feuillet, PSS,
Jesus and His Mother: The Role of the Virgin Mary in Salvation History and
the Place of Woman in the Church, trans. Leonard Maluf (Still River, MA: St.
Bede’s Publications, 1984), 46, and also his Le sauveur messianique et sa mère
dans les récits de l’enfance de saint Matthieu et de saint Luc (Vatican City:
Libreria Editrice Vaticana, “Collezione Teologica” 4, 1990), 72–74; Stefano M.
Manelli, FI, All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed: Biblical Mariology, trans.
Peter Damian Fehlner, FI (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate,
2005), 268–285.
43 Col, #7. Hæc est Virgo Filia Sion, quæ legem adimplens, in templo tibi
sistit Filium, gloriam plebis tuæ Israel et lumen omnium gentium. Hæc est
Virgo, salvificæ dispensationis ministra, quæ tibi Agnum immaculatum offert,
in ara crucis pro nostra immolandum salute.
259
Published by eCommons, 2014 27
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
44 On the use of the verb sistere, cf. Ignazio M. Calabuig, OSM, and Rosella
Barbieri, “Il Prefazio della Messa “Sancta Maria in Præsentatione Domini,” in
Virgo Liber Verbi: Miscellanea di studi in onore di P. Giuseppe Besutti, OSM,
ed. Ignazio M. Calabuig (Rome: Edizioni “Marianum,” 1991), 613.
45 “Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate in the Contemporary
Roman Liturgy,” in Theological Foundations 1:70–91; “Mary ‘Minister of
Grace’ in the Magisterium and in the Contemporary Roman Liturgy,” in Mary
at the Foot of the Cross—IV: Mater Viventium (Gen. 3:20). Acts of the Fourth
International Symposium on Marian Coredemption (New Bedford, MA:
Academy of the Immaculate, 2004), 29–70.
260
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 28
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
She is the Virgin who offers, presenting the Firstborn in your temple
and sharing in his self-offering beside the tree of everlasting life. 46
46 Col, #26. Virgo offerens, tibi in templo Primogenitum sistit et apud lignum
vitæ eius immolationi consentit.
47 AAS 10 (1918): 181–182 [OL, 267]. materna in Filium jura pro hominum
salute abdicavit.
48AAS 35 (1943): 247 [OL, 383]. una cum maternorum iurium maternique
amoris sui holocausto.
49 materna in Filium iura pro hominum salute abdicavit.
261
Published by eCommons, 2014 29
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
By the will of God, the most Blessed Virgin Mary was inseparably
joined with Christ in accomplishing the work of man’s redemption,
so that our salvation flows from the love of Jesus Christ and His
sufferings intimately united with the love and sorrows of His
Mother. 50
Grant that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, poured out upon your
Church, may descend in power on all peoples, whom Christ, the
High Priest, claims as the reward of the sacrifice he offered on the
cross in the presence of his sorrowing mother. 51
50 AAS 48 (1956): 352 [OL, 778]. Cum enim ex Dei voluntate in humanæ
Redemptionis peragendo opere Beatissima Virgo Maria cum Christo fuerit
indivulse coniuncta, adeo ut ex Iesu Christi caritate eiusque cruciatibus cum
amore doloribusque ipsius Matris intime consociatis sit nostra salus profecta.
51 Col, #11. ut Paraclitus Spiritus in Ecclesia tua superabundans, in
universas gentes affluenter redundet; quem, sacrificio crucis, compatiente
Matre, Christus, summus sacerdos, promeruit. Lawrence M. Choate, OSM,
points out in his study “Mary in the Lent and Easter Seasons: Liturgical
References,” Marian Studies 42 (1991): 59, that “The translation has made
quem … Christus … promeruit refer to universas gentes rather than to
Paraclitus Spiritus.”
262
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 30
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
Lord our God, you placed at the side of your suffering Son his
mother to suffer with him, so that the human race, deceived by the
wiles of the devil, might become a new and resplendent creation. 53
263
Published by eCommons, 2014 31
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
the devil. Without taking away at all from the fact that the
sacrifice of Christ is more than sufficient for the salvation of
the world, the prayer of the Church (lex orandi) as expressed
in the Collectio states that salvation has effectively come
about through the sacrifice of Christ to which is joined the
compassion or co-suffering of Mary.
VI. The Papal Magisterium of St. John Paul II
At greater length and more often than all of his
predecessors combined, Pope St. John Paul II dealt with the
theme of Mary’s active collaboration in the work of our
redemption. 54 He used the adjectival form of Coredemptrix
in Spanish [corredentor], just as he used the Italian term
264
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 32
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
265
Published by eCommons, 2014 33
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
57LG, 25. For a further discussion on how the ordinary magisterium of the
Supreme Pontiff may be recognized, cf. Arthur Burton Calkins, Totus Tuus:
John Paul II’s Program of Marian Consecration and Entrustment (New
Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 3rd printing, 1997), 266–269.
58Theotókos—Woman, Mother, Disciple: A Catechesis on Mary, Mother of
God, with a Foreword by Eamon R. Carroll, OCarm, STD (Boston: Pauline
Books and Media, 2000).
266
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 34
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
267
Published by eCommons, 2014 35
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
Dearest brothers and sisters, in the month of May we raise our eyes
to Mary, the woman who was associated in a unique way in the work
of mankind’s reconciliation with God. According to the Father’s
plan, Christ was to accomplish this work through his sacrifice.
However, a woman would be associated with him, the Immaculate
Virgin who is thus placed before our eyes as the highest model of
cooperation in the work of salvation. …
268
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 36
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
The subsequent Genesis text likewise shows that in the divine plan
the cooperation of man and woman must be realized on a higher
level, within the perspective of the association of the new Adam and
the new Eve. In fact, in the Protoevangelium (cf. Gen. 3:15), enmity
is established between the devil and the woman. The first enemy of
the evil one, woman is God’s first ally (cf. Mulieris Dignitatem, n.
11). In the light of the Gospel, we can recognize the Virgin Mary in
this woman. …
Mary was committed to God’s definitive covenant with
humanity. She has the task of consenting, in the name of humanity,
to the Savior’s coming. This role surpasses all claims, even the most
recent, of women’s rights: Mary intervened in a super-eminent and
humanly unthinkable way in the history of humanity, and with her
consent, contributed to the transformation of all human destiny.
In addition, Mary co-operated in the development of Jesus’
mission, both by giving birth to him, raising him, being close to him
in his hidden life; and then, during the years of his public ministry,
by discreetly supporting his activities, beginning with Cana when
she obtained the first demonstration of the Savior’s miraculous
power; as the Council says, it was Mary who “brought about by her
intercession the beginning of the miracles of Jesus the Messiah”
(Lumen Gentium, n. 58).
Above all, Mary co-operated with Christ in his work of
redemption, not only preparing Jesus for his mission, but also
joining in his sacrifice for the salvation of all (cf. Mulieris
Dignitatem, nn. 3-5). 61
269
Published by eCommons, 2014 37
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
62 Inseg VI/1 (1983): 1447 [ORE 788:2]. I have written a number of times on
this topic: “Mary’s Presence in the Mass,” Homiletic & Pastoral Review 97, no.
10 (July 1997): 8–15; “Mary’s Presence in the Mass according to Pope John
Paul II,” in Mary at the Foot of the Cross, VI: Marian Coredemption in the
Eucharistic Mystery. Acts of the Sixth International Symposium on Marian
Coredemption (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 2007), 11–38;
and, finally, “Mary’s Presence in the Mass: The Teaching of Pope John Paul
II,” Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal, 10, no. 2 (2006): 132–158.
270
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 38
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
271
Published by eCommons, 2014 39
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
272
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 40
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
66 One has only to examine such documents as the Apostolic Letter Tertio
Millennio Adveniente of 10 November 1994, the Apostolic Letter Orientale
Lumen of 2 May 1995, and the Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint of 25 May
1995, to find evidence of his vigorous support of these initiatives.
273
Published by eCommons, 2014 41
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
Mary, who since her entry into salvation history unites in herself and
re-echoes the greatest teachings of the faith as she is proclaimed and
274
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 42
Calkins: Marian Coredemption
venerated, calls the faithful to her Son and His sacrifice and to the
love of the Father. 67
67 LG, 65. Maria enim, quae, in historiam salutis intime ingressa, maxima
fidei placita in se quodammodo unit et reverberat, dum praedicatur et colitur,
ad Filium suum Eiusque sacrificium atque ad amorem Patris credentes
advocat.
275
Published by eCommons, 2014 43
Marian Studies, Vol. 65 [2014], Art. 10
276
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol65/iss1/10 44